Pork side stretcher



H. F. LEE

PORK SIDE STRETGHER Original Filed Jan. 20, 1938 11v VENTOR Harry 2. A a. Q

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TTORNE V5.

Patented Oct. 15, 1940 l I PATENT OFFICE This invention relates to a means for and method of stretching, sizing and shaping. sides -of pork which-areto be made into bacon.

The main; objects ofthis invention are to provide means whereby a pork side may becut of larger size than heretofore and then reduced 'in width by increasing its length', with the result that--more 'poundage of'meat may be incorporated intothe bacon side than heretofore and still have the bacon side of such width as to be 1 sliced m a standard slicing machine; to provide means for squaring upa bacon side to rectangular shape free from wrinkles; to provide an I improved meansforsubjecting the pork side to a Continuous tension during the'smoking or curing operation; to provide improved means for holding the pork side while affixing the stretching .means thereto, and to provide an improved pork side stretcher'which is readily adjustable to accommodate sides of widely varying length.

' An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the "accompanying drawing, in which:

'Figurel is a View in perspective of a pork side before stretching; v

'Fig. 2 is a view showing'how the pork side is compressed in a sloping-sided trough for reducing its width and holding it securely while afiixing the stretcher thereto;

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken through the compressing trough and showing the stretcher affixed to the opposite ends of the pork side; I Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but with the stretcherelongated to lengthen theside of pork;

Fig. 5is anenlarged transverse sectional View taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4; v

Fig. 6 is a View in perspective of the improved pork side stretcher with the toggle linkage actuated to extended-position;

Fig. "7 is a view in perspective of one end of a modified form of stretcher which is adapted to exert a constant stretching action on the pork side; I

Fig. 8 is a plan view' showingin dotted outline' the originalsha'pof a-- porkside, and in full lines the'same pork side after being stretched; Fig. '-9 is a similar view-showing how a pork side with one edgelonger than the other is squared up to rectangularshape by the stretching action. v 1

It has long. been recognized as highly desirable to have pork sides which areused for bacon, squared up in rectangulanform, flat and free realized from it.

sirable to be able toutilize the large amount width. Insofar as the widthis concerned,it very often happens that the butcher has a pork "side which is considerably more than 9 inches in width, but due to the fact that there are in existence a very large number of bacon slicing machines which are so limited'in size that they will not take a bacon side more than 9 inches in width, it is necessary for the butcher to cut the pork side much smaller than the material available, with the result that several pounds of meat, which otherwise could be incorporated in the'relatively high priced bacon side, are used for other purposes and a much lower price It is, therefore, highly deo-f poundage in some pork sides to be sold as bacon. However, the over-all width of the bacon side must not be greater than the capacity of the-slicing machines.

Many devices have been heretofore made;- -which attempt to produce a flat, wrinkle-free,

squared-up rectangular bacon side. It is Well understood, of course, that pork sides are soaked in salt brine prior to the curing operation and are relatively soft at the time they are sub-.: jected to the .cure. there isa tendency for these soft pork sides to During the curing operation ing to square up such an irregular side of pork.

Noneof these attempts have been particularly successful, however, inasmuch as no rigid mechanical means has been devised for forcing and stretching the pork sideinto the exact shape a and size desired and then holding it rigid in such position during the. curing operation, which rigid holding precludes the forming of wrinkles "as the bacon side shrinks.

In the construction shown in the drawing a relatively wide pork side 10 which may be as much as 11 or 12 inches in width is forced down to the bottom'of a sloping sided trough I I to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2. The bot- ;tom of the trough is preferably approximately 9 inches in Width and therefore the soft pork side when forced down to the bottom of the trough is wrinkled during the compressing of it.

In som e instances it is preferable to remove the skin from the side of pork before placing it in the trough and subjecting it to the stretching operation, and in other instances the skin from wrinkles, .andnot more than 9 inches in left on and. when this isdone the side is .5;

preferably placed in the trough with the skin surface up. Y

My improved stretcher comprises a pair of rigid cross heads l2 and I3, each of which is provided with a plurality of impaling tines l4 and I5 respectively which are adapted to be thrust into the respectively opposite ends of the pork side ID.

The cross head l2 near its medial part is provided with a laterally rigid connecting bar I5 of U-shape cross-section, securely attached thereto by rivets, or the like, I! at one end of the bar. The bar l6 comprises parallel spaced side walls and a connecting web Ito. The op posite end of the bar It is provided with a transverse pin i8 which passes through the opposite parallel sides of the U-shaped section and is securely riveted thereto.

The cross head l3, near its medial part, has a sleeve member I3 rigidly secured thereto as by rivets 20 which is adapted to slidably and telescopically receive one end of a laterally rigid connecting bar 2|. The bar 2| is provided with upstanding spaced parallel lugs 22 and 23 which are drilled in alignment to receive a pivot pin' 24 upon which is pivoted one end of a lever 25.

Means are provided for connecting the lever 25 to the sleeve I9 so that movement of the lever will slide the sleeve I9 and cross head I 3 with respect to the bar 2| and comprises a pair of links 26 and 21, one end of each of which is pivoted at 28 to the lever 25, and the other end of each of which is pivoted at 29 to an upstanding lug on the sleeve IS. The lever 25 and links 26 and 2'! are so formed, shaped and arranged as to have a toggle action when swung from the position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing to the position shown in Figs. 4 and 6 of the drawing, wherewhereby the toggle action will tend to lock the sleeve l9 and its cross head in extended position when subjected to tension which tends to slide the sleeve inwardly on its bar 2|.

The lever 25 is extended beyond its toggle link connections and provided with a hook or eye end 30 by which the stretcher may be hung up during the curing operation. The middle of the hook or eye 30 is positioned along the longitudinal center line of the meat stretcher so that the apparatus will hang perpendicularly when suspended on a hook or nail.

The connecting bar 2| extends a considerable distance beyond the lugs 23 and 24 and is preferably of T-shaped cross-section to give it lateral rigidity. The web portion 3| of the T-bar section is adapted to fit between theside walls of the U-shaped connecting bar l6, as shown more clearly in Fig. 5 of the drawing, with the flange portion 32 resting on the upper edges of the side walls.

The web 3| is provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced bayonet slots 33,, any one of which is adapted to receive the pin l8 rigidly mounted in the end of the connecting bar l6, and the lower web portion Ifia of the bar I6 is cut away beneath the pin I8 as shown at l6b, so that the connecting bar 2| may have limited pivotal movement, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing, when the pin I8 is engaged in any one of the slots 33. V

Means are provided for lockingthe connecting bar 2| against pivotal movement about the pin |8when the bar 2| is in prolongation of the ba-r 6, as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 of the drawing, and comprise a spring finger 34, one end of which is mounted in a lug or boss 35 on the side of the bar I6, and the other end of which is curved outwardly away from the bar and then inwardly at right angles to its base supporting end with the free end passing through a slot 36 formed in one side wall of the bar IS. The inner free end of the spring finger is positioned to engage in one of the bayonet slots 33 next adjacent to the slot in which the pin I8 is engaged.

In the modification shown in Fig. '7 of the drawing the sleeve I9 is provided with a, pair of oppositely extending transversely disposed lugs 31 and 38in which are rigidly mounted spring guiding rods 39 and 4|] respectively, the free ends of which are adapted to slidably pass through openings formed in transversely disposed lugs 4| and 42 which are formed on the connecting bar 2|. A helical compressionspring 43, surrounding the rod 39, is interposed between the lugs 31 and 4|,

and a similar-helical compression spring 44 surrounds the rod and is interposed between the lugs 38 and 42. I

In the operation of the apparatus and practice of the method herein disclosed the pork side H], which may be 11 or 12 inches in width and which has been softened by soakingin brine solution, is placed in the sloping-sided trough H and forced down to the bottom thereof, thus being compressed to a width of approximately 9 inches.

The stretching apparatus, comprising the cross heads with their connecting bars, is then afiixed to the opposite ends of the pork side by thrusting the impaling tines I4 and I5 down into the pork side close to the ends of the meat, and the two connecting rods joined, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing. It will be noticed that the pin I8 has been entered in one of the notches 33 in such manner that the distance between the cross heads l2 and I3 is considerably less than the sum of the lengths of the connected parts of the bars l6 and 2| between the pin l8 and heads l2 and .I3, and the lever 25 is in such position that the sleeve I9 is slid fully on to the end of the connecting bar 2|.

The operator then forces the upstanding end of the connecting bar 2| down into the slot of the U bar I6, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing, which operation causes the pork side to be initially stretched. At this time the locking finger 34 is engaged in one of the bayonet slots adjacent to that in which the pivot pin |8 is engaged, and thus the two connecting bars are locked in prolongation. The eye or hooked end 30 of the lever 25 is then grasped by the operator and swung to the position shown in Figs. 4 and 6 of the drawing, which action through leverage forces the toggle linkage to movethe sleeve l9 outwardly with great force and thereupon further and finally stretch the pork side. Thereafter the pork side with the stretcher afiixed thereto is removed from the trough H and hung up to cure into bacon.

In the event one endof the pork side is not at right angles to the side edges, as shown in full lines in Fig. 9, one of the cross heads is first afiixed to this end of the pork side with the cross head whereupon the opposite cross head has its teeth In using the modification shown in Fig. 7 of the drawing, the procedure is substantially the same as that described for the preferred embodiment, except that when the stretcher is forced down from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing, the-helical compression springs 43 and 44 are compressed. Thereafter the springs exert a constant stretching action on the soit'meat until curing has progressed to the point of resisting further action of the springs.

It is to be observed that the cross heads l2 and I3 which carry the impaling tines l4 and I5 respectively are interconnected by laterally rigid connecting bars which maintain substantial parallelism between the cross heads at all times and thereby positively insure that the slab of bacon when finally cured will have opposite ends which are substantially parallel, and that the bacon side will be squared up into fiat rectangular form.

In compressing the soft pork side in the sloping sided trough II, it will, of course, slightly wrinkle transversely, but during the stretching operation these wrinkles will be entirely pulled out, so that the finished and cured slab will have a flat, plane surface free of wrinkles.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention and one modification thereof have been herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details of theconstructions shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of this invention, as defined by the following claims.

I claim: v

1. A pork side stretcher comprising a pair of spaced substantially parallel cross heads, tines on said cross heads adapted to engage the ends of a pork side and laterally rigid connecting means attached to said cross heads for maintaining substantial parallelism therebetween and for forcing said cross heads apart to stretch the length of a pork side engaged by said tines, said connecting means including yielding means for exerting a constant stretching action on the pork side.

2. A pork side stretcher comprising a pair of spaced substantially parallel cross heads, tines on said cross heads adapted to engage the ends of a pork side, a bar on each of said cross heads, means for connecting said bars in substantial prolongation at spaced intervals to vary the distance between said cross heads, one of said bars having a plurality of notches therein, a pin on the other of said bars for engaging in any selected one of said notches whereby said bars may have pivotal action about said pin, and means for locking said bars in substantial prolongation.

3. A pork side stretcher comprising a pair of spaced substantially parallel cross heads, tines on said cross heads adaptedto engage the ends of a pork side, a bar on each of said cross heads, means for connecting said bars in substantial prolongation at spaced intervals to vary the distance between said cross heads, one of said bars having a plurality of notches therein, a pin on the other of said bars for engaging in any selected one of said notches whereby said bars may have pivotal action about said pin, and a spring finger on said last mentioned bar for engaging in another of said notches for locking said bars in substantial prolongation.

4. A pork side stretcher comprising a pair of spaced substantially parallel cross heads, tines on said cross heads adapted to engage the ends of a pork side, a bar on each of said cross heads, means for connecting said bars in substantial prolongation at spaced intervals to vary the distance between said cross heads, one of said bars being telescopically extensible, a lever pivoted to one member of said telescopic bar, and a link pivotally connecting said lever to the other member of said bar, said lever and link being arranged to extend the over-all length of said bar when said lever is moved to one position and form a toggle action look when so moved. 7

5. A pork side stretcher. comprising'a pair of spaced substantially parallel cross heads, tines on said cross heads adapted toengage the ends of a pork side, a bar on each of said cross heads, means for connecting said bars in substantial prolongation at spacedintervals to vary the distance between'said cross heads, one of said bars being telescopically extensible, a lever pivoted to one member of said telescopic bar, and a link pivotally connecting said lever to the other member of said bar, said lever and link being arranged to extend the over-all length of said bar when said lever is moved to one position and form a toggle action lock when so moved, the outer end of said lever being formed and shaped so as to be adapted to hang up said stretcher thereby.

6. A pork side stretcher comprising a pair of spaced substantially parallel cross heads, tines on said cross heads adapted to engage the ends of a pork side, a bar connecting the said cross head-s, said bar being extensible in length, means for extending the length of said bar, and yielding means interposed in said bar whereby extension of said bar against yielding resistance will place said yielding means under tension.

HARRY F. LEE. 

